Tying the knot, Korean style!!

My lovely 'Dongseng' 

Firstly, I would like to start this latest post by congratulating my amazing friend Han on her marriage this previous weekend (pics to come), you looked absolutely beautiful! It was so good to see you again and to share your special day with you, your new husband, your family and other friends.

So now you have figured out that this blog’s topic is about: “The Korean Wedding Ceremony”. If you haven’t, we have bigger problems. Korean weddings are something of a spectacle and are bursting with idiosyncrasies that make for brilliant blogging. 

To begin with, Koreans are taking on Western traditions in leaps and bounds, and, while things like Christmas, Easter and Halloween are still lagging behind, a lavish white wedding with all the bells and trimmings is something they have taken on with gusto and unique Korean sense. 

In many cases Koreans have two weddings: a traditional Korean wedding ceremony with Hanboks, age-old ceremonies and symbols; as well as a meringue explosion of white dresses, fake flowers and plenty of flash photography. Being in the region of about 10 million won  ($10,000 USD) for a basic package of everything rental, buffet for about 300, and the ceremony being dusted in about 40 minutes flat, they are sometimes referred to as “factory weddings”.

Here’s a breakdown, minute by minute, of some of the strangeness and idiosyncrasies that I experienced. This was compounded by not knowing exactly what was being said most of the time, and with an imagination like mine this is somewhat dangerous, if not entertaining!

Timeline: 

Since the invite said that the wedding will commence at 13:00…I arrived at

12:40…naturally! This is where the timeline shall start.

12:40 – arrive at ‘Happy Wedding’ wedding hall.  With more bling than Cher could fit on a dress the blinding glits and shine of the entrance hall was enough to make you think you were walking towards the great white light. 

12:41 – search for the wedding party/people I know. (In wedding halls there can be up to 4 weddings occurring at a given time, which means one hall can churn out about 16 weddings a day)

12:50 – still searching.

12:55 – wonder if I am in the right place.

12:57 – finally find a friend and realise never to arrive early to a Korean wedding.

12:58 – move into the designated wedding hall and stare in awe (and quite a bit of disbelief) at the venue.

Lights, mirrors, action!

  

   Quick description

- Colourful fluorescent lighting.

- Mirrored, catwalk-like aisle.

- Fake flowers

13:00 – Respective mothers of the couple walk down the aisle. You can tell who is who because the mother of the bride typically wears a pink hanbok and the mother of the groom wears a blue hanbok.

13:01 – bride appears looking STUNNING!! Music plays, and she walks down the mirrored catwalk/aisle toward her husband-to-be to a round of applause. I try not to cry.

13:02 – Ceremony begins. Parents of the bride and groom are seated in their own thrones next to the couple. MC is shouting things over the microphone.

The LOUD old ladies!

13:04 – He is still shouting things.

13:05 – The group of Ajumas (permed and sequined old aunties) in front of me start up the loudest conversation EVER. This seems to be okay and accepted behaviour, and people come and go and chatter while the ceremony takes place.

13:07 – The minister/priest does his thing, the old ladies are still gaggling loudly.

13:20 – The minister finishes doing his thing, the old ladies still doing theirs.

13:21 – MC starts shouting things and the newlyweds respond appropriately.

Summary of ‘appropriate responses’

-

Groom not visible, he is on the floor

Bow to the bride’s parents: the groom does a FULL bow on hands and knees with his head touching the mirrored floor.

*more shouting*

I don’t understand what is going on, so I look around at the colourful fluorescent lighting reflecting off the shiny, shiny surfaces everywhere and admire the abundance of fake flowers.

*MC still shouting*

Taking front row to a new level.

The couple now turns to face the bride’s parents in their front row, box seats.

*You guessed it, more shouting*

Turn to face groom’s parents (also have special seats).

*MC shouts AGAIN*

Bow to them too, again the groom finds himself with his forehead on the mirror floor. This as it turns out, is where the bride is “given away” and officially moves from her parents and her family, to her husband and her new family. The couple bow giving thanks for raising a good daughter, and the bride bows to be accepted into the new family and promise to excel at all things wife-related.

Now they turn and face the assembly of people.

*MC seems to be trying to embarrass the groom by shouting something at him*

Groom looks suitably embarrassed and shouts something back…

*MC shouts

Everybody laughs (except for me and 1 other foreigner)

The groom assumes a push-up position.

The bride sits on his back.

Bridal push-up.  Domination begins!

He lowers his body to the ground while shouting her name.

He completes the push-up with her on his back and shouts “I LOVE YOU” in Korean.

He does this 4 times (every time because the MC shouts at him)…bear in mind the man is wearing gloves and doing push-ups on a mirror, while his new wife is sitting

on him!

 

The bottom 2 tears are FAKE.
(and the cake cutting has
already been completed)

13:26 – Cutting of the cake.

-

Now this is traditionally the cute part where the couple holds the knife together and cuts the first slice and feed each other a bite, right? Right???

In Korea it seems that they don’t do the latter. They literally only cut the cake, not a slice, ONE cut into it – done. 

-

13:27 – Crowd starts making an unashamed run for the buffet: the noisy old ajumas are out the doors first.

13:27 – Al is confused why people are running out while the bride and groom are still posing for pics, which the photographer will make them do again and again until it’s right.

13:28 – Only a few people hanging around to take pics with the bride and groom.

13:30 – Wedding is pretty much over, and wedding hall employees are already cleaning up the venue for the next couple.

13:44 – I have my wedding gift. (2 wooden ducks and 50 000won).  The ducks are the traditional Korean wedding gift and have a ton of symbolism behind them. The cash is the normal gift, 30 000won ($30) for ‘randoms’, 50 000won ($50) for friends, and 100 000won ($100) for relatives.  I think I should get married here just to make some ‘ching’.

All you can eat/drink...

13:45 – Buffet. I hit that HARD! More food and drinks than you can stomach, and we were at the buffet longer than the actual wedding!

14:30 – food coma sets in.

*Somewhere between the ceremony and the buffet the bride and groom leave for their honeymoon in the Philippines and a lifetime of happiness.*

Roll out of the buffet and head home.

And so, I can add a very sweet and extremely different type of wedding to my list of nuptial experiences. And, as I discovered, even Koreans go to weddings for the food ;)